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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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Shelf...' 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



POETICAL GEOGRAPHY OF 
NORTH CAROLINA, 



COLD WATER, REPLY TO ORAY'S ELEGY, 



AND OTHER POEMS. 



/ 



NEEDHAM BRYAN COBB, 

OF NORTH CAROLINA. 



3 



3 



-"CO/ 

OCT 291887' 



CAMBRIDGE : 

print** at ttje Htoerstoe press. 

1887. 



Cs-r 



Copyright, 1887, 
BY NEEDHAM BRYAN COBB. 



All rights reserved. 



The Riverside Press,' Cambridge-: 
Printed by H. 0. Houghton & Company. 



PREFACE. 



The following rhymes on the counties, rivers, 
creeks, sounds, bays, and mountains of North Caro- 
lina were prepared by the author to aid his own 
pupils in memorizing the geography of their native 
State. They were written out on the blackboard, a 
few lines at a time, and the whole school required to 
repeat them in concert. After this, different parts 
were parceled out to each pupil : for instance, one 
little girl committed the " Key to the Counties ; " 
another, " Now we '11 learn the lengthy rivers," etc. ; 
another, " The Sky land Rivers ; " another, " Tribu- 
taries of the Catawba," etc. The larger pupils di- 



PREFACE. iv 

vided the creeks, the sounds, the bays, and the 
mountains in the same way ; and on Friday after- 
noons the whole was rehearsed in the presence of 
visitors. In this way each pupil acquired not only 
his own part, but the parts of all the others, by hear- 
ing them recite and anticipating his own part in the 
performance. 

After the repetition of the " Key to the Counties," 
one of the larger pupils might be required to go to 
the wall map and point out the counties, naming 
them in alphabetical order, the whole school re- 
peating the names of the county towns. He might 
also point out the factories, mines, and date of or- 
ganization of each county, as laid down on Cobb's 
School Map of the State, and tell something of its 
early settlement, products, etc. 

The rivers, creeks, bays, sounds, and mountains 
should also be pointed out on the map. 



CONTENTS. 

♦ 

PAGE 

Poetical Geography of North Carolina . .1 

A Home in the Mountains 31 

Cold Water -36 

Reply to Gray's Elegy 47 

worldliness and worth, or the butterfly and the 

Bee 50 

The Christian's Comfort b6 

The Terrible Storm 57 

Would I be Missed ? 61 



POETICAL GEOGRAPHY OF NORTH 
CAROLINA. 

PREPARED TO AID THE CHILDREN OF NORTH CAROLINA 
IN MEMORIZING THE COUNTIES, RIVERS, CREEKS, SOUNDS, 
BAYS, AND MOUNTAINS OF THE OLD NORTH STATE. 



KEY TO THE NINETY SIX COUNTIES OF NORTH 
CAROLINA. 

Here 's an alphabetic key, 
Written out by N. B. C, 
To assist your memory 
Of the counties of N. C. 



KEY. 



One in E, I, U, and V ; 
Two in F, L, 0, Y, T; 

Only three in N and J ; 
Five in D and S and A ; 



POETICAL GEOGRAPHY. 

Six in B, R, H, and G; 
Seven in W ; game in P ; 
Eight in M, fifteen in C ; 
And none in K, Q, X, and Z. 

RIVERS OF N. C. 

Now we'll learn the lengthy rivers 
Flowing through the Old North State ; 
Take them down for future study, 
Write them all upon your slate. 

SKYLAND RIVERS. 

Swanannoa, Tahkeosta, 1 
Tuckaseige, Tennessee, 
Wild Watauga, Hiawasse, 
Nantahala, Cheowee, 
Valley, Elk, Oconalufta, 

1 Indian name for French Broad River. 



POETICAL GEOGRAPHY. 4 

New and Toe and Pigeon flow 

From the Skyland through the mountains 

To the Gulf of Mexico. 

TRIBUTARIES OF THE CATAWBA. 

Linville, Johns, and upper Little 

Come from mountains tall and blue, 

Join Catawba flowing eastward, 

Then flow southward with it too. 

South Catawba then approaches, 

With its branches, large and wee ; 

Green and Broad, from Blue Bidge tumbling, 

Join it, and they form Santee. 

TRIBUTARIES OF THE YADKIN. 

Beddies, Boaring, Elkin, Mitchell, 
Fish, and Ararat, you know, 
With the waters of the Yadkin, 



POETICAL GEOGRAPHY. 

On their eastern journey flow 
Till South Yadkin and Uwharrie, 
Rocky, Little, and Pee Dee 
Turn their mingling waters southward 
Through pocosins to the sea. 
Lumber with its sandy marshes 
Changes to the Small Pee Dee, 
Joins all these in South Carolina, 
And they flow to Georgetown Bay. 

All the others treat us better, 
Stay at home where they were born, 
Or come down from Old Yirginia 
To our land of pine and corn. 

TRIBUTARIES OF THE CAPE FEAR. 

Second Eocky, Haw, and Deep 

Through the Chatham Coal Fields sweep, 



POETICAL GEOGRAPHY. 

Take two Littles, Black and South, 
And the North-East to the mouth 
Of the Cape Fear famed in story 
For the fights of Whig and Tory. 

PAMLICO RIVERS. 

Little, Flat, and small Eno, 
Trent and Neuse and Pamlico, 
Pungo, Tar, and Pantego, 
Bay and Long-Shoal slowly flow 
To the Sound of Pamlico. 

ALBEMARLE RIVERS. 

Nottaway and dark Meherrin 
Form the Chowan, deep and wide, 
Pottecasy, Cattawisky, 
And Ahoskie swell its tide. 
Pasquotank and queer Perquimons, 



POETICAL GEOGRAPHY. 

Yeoppim, Little, and Cashie, 

Sluggish North and Alligator, 

And the Scnppernong all lie 

In the vine-land and the swamp-land 

Of historic Albemarle, 

Where our early royal rulers 

Were forever in a snarl. 

Here too Roanoke pours the waters 

Of the Mayo, Smith, and Dan, 

From the distant mountain regions 

To the mouth of wide Chowan. 

All these waters flow south-eastward 

By Roanoke and Croatan, 

Till they find at Boddies Island 

Two small outlets to the main. 

New and Newport, filled with fishes, 
White Oak, famed for marl and marshes, 



POETICAL GEOGRAPHY. 

Close the catalogue of rivers 
Flowing in the Old North State. 

PRINCIPAL CREEKS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 
THOSE WEST OF THE BLUE RIDGE. 

These sixty all lie 

In the " Land of the Sky." 

Stekoah, Tuskegee, Balds, three and Cowee, 
Catalooche and Jonathan's, Cove and Crab tree, 
Two Ivys and Laurel and Piny and Pines, 
Beaver and Beaverdara, Sugarton, Fines, 
Hurricane, Hominy, Kichland, and Scott's, 
Sandy-Mush, Gash's, Mud, Cove, and Plott's, 
Brushy and Beech, Jack's, Grassy, and Kheams, 
Licklog and Shooting (queer little streams), 
Barker's, Alarka, and tumbling Cat-Stair, 



\ 



POETICAL GEOGRAPHY. 10 

Red-Marble and Briertown, high up in air, 

And Kirklands, Hardscrabble, and Wesser, they say; 

With Hanging-Dog, Indian, Cartoogachaye, 

And Soco and Burningtown, Brass town and Glade 

(Some leaping from mountains, some sleeping in 

shade), 
And Nottley and Nolan's and Forney's and Horse, 
And Gap and Peach-Bottom and Meat-Camp, of 

course, 
And Howard, Land, Shoal, and a few others flow 
Into New and Watauga, and French Broad and Toe, 
Tuckaseige and Pigeon, Hiawasse, and so 
They run to the Tennessee and Ohio. 

THOSE THAT FLOW INTO CATAWBA RIVER. 

Irish and Paddy's and Upper, you know, 
And Lower, Gunpowder, and Davidson flow, 
With Green Paw and Crowder and Sugar and Nail 



\ 



POETICAL GEOGRAPHY. 12 

And Little^Catawba, McAlpine's, and Steele, 
Paw, Clark's, and three other Littles you've seen, 
And Henry's and Stanly's and Jacob's and Green, 
And Muddy and Turkey and Howard's and Long, 
And Silver and Indian, Big-Long and Young, 

And Allen's and Lyle's, 

And Falling and Bells, 

With hundreds of rills, 

Come down from the hills 

To sing in the mills 
Of Mecklenburg, Gaston, and Lincoln, you see, 
And then in Catawba they flow to Santee. 

CREEKS THAT FLOW INTO YADKIN AND PEE DEE. 

The Brier and Mulberry, Laurel and Snow, 
Two Elkins and Elk, Cub, Hunting, Bamboo, 
Bearing and Swearing and Panther and Cane, 
Middle and Muddy and South-Fork and Lane's, 



POETICAL GEOGRAPHY. 13 

North Deep and South Deep, Double and Rock, 

Big Fish and Fishers come with a shock 

To mingle with Dutchman's and Hannah's and 

Tree, 
Two Cedars and Flat on their way to Pee Dee; 
Then Koyall and Rocky and Abbott's and Fort, 
And Timber and Cabin (there are two of this 

sort) 
And Second and Flat-Swamp, and Third, Deep, and 

Long, 
And Big Bear and Little Bear, mingling their song 
With two Buffaloes (the Irish and Dutch) 
And Negrohand, Richardson, Richland, and Goose, 
Savannah and Stewart's, Jones, Coddle and Clark's, 
Rich's and Hitchcock's, Solomon's, Marks, 
Cartledge's, Falling, Smith, Mountain and Brown, 
Island and Dison, Gould, Witherow's and Town. 
Some from the mountains and some lower down, 



\ 



POETICAL GEOGRAPHY. 14 

Some creeping and sleeping, 

Some dashing and splashing, 

Some jumping and leaping, 

And crashing and smashing, 

But all intermingling 

Their jingling and tingling, 

Until in the Rocky 

And muddy South Yadkin, 

And bouncing Uwharrie, 

And lengthy old Yadkin 

And splendid Pee Dee, 

They flow to the sea. 
Juniper, Naked, and Drowning, these three, 
Two Shoeheels and Jordans make Little Pee Dee. 



POETICAL GEOGRAPHY. 15 

CREEKS THAT FLOW INTO CAPE FEAR. 

1. Through Haw River. 

Two Stinkings and Stoney, 
Two Troublesomes, Rock, 
And Yarnal's and Crooked, 
And Cane and South-Fork, 
And Middle-Fork, Mary's, 
And Morgan's and Mill's, 
Boyd's, Booker's, and Bowlin's — 
Come down from the hills 
Of Rockingham, Guilford, 
And brave Alamance, 
To mingle with New Hope, 
And join in the dance 
With two Buffaloes 
(The Little and Big) 
And two Alamances, 



\ 



POETICAL GEOGRAPHY. 16 

And Robertson's, Stagg, 
Pokeberry and Hogan's, 
Winningham and Pine Hill, 
To help out the Haw 
In its tortuous flow 
To the Deep and the Cape Fear Rivers below. 

2. Through Deep, Little, and Cape Fear Rivers. 

Indian, Governor's, Long-Fork and Lick, 

McLendon and Grassey and Richland and Lick 

Silver-Run, Sandy, Mt. Pleasant, and Brush, 

All run into Deep with a terrible rush, 

From Guilford and Randolph and Chatham and 

Moore. 
While Darnley's and Dunn* eld's (singular names), 
Hector's and Nicholson's, Campbell's and James, 
Ellis's, Muddy, and Fall Branch and French, 
Taylor's-Hole, Pole-cat, (Oh! what a stench!) 



\ 



POETICAL GEOGRAPHY. 17 

Cedar and Sugar Loaf, Nettles and Cross, 

White-Lake and Fishing and Kockfish and Bush, 

Beaver and Juniper, Comers, and Gray, 

And Big Buffalo all come in the way, 

With Patterson's, Branson's, two Stewarts and Platts, 

And flow to Cape Fear from the hills and the flats 

Of Harnett and Cumberland, Bladen and Moore. 

3. Through Black and South Rivers. 

Then Sampson and Duplin and Pender, you see, 
Send Stewarts and Six-Runs and Big Coharie, 
And Bear-Skin and Little Coharie, you know, 
To enter Black River, and mingle below 
With Cypress and Harrison, Andrews and Moore's, 
That come through the South with its feculent 
shores. 



\ 



POETICAL GEOGRAPHY. 18 

4. Through North-East River. 

Trumpetery, Merrick's, and Long Creek and Lock, 

Maxwell, Persimmon, and forked Land-Fork, 

And Goshen, Sarecta, Bear-Marsh, and Limestone, 

And slow Holly Shelter and swift Jumping Run, 

Angola and Island and small Lillington, 

And Chinquepin, Rockfish, and Lewis come down 

Through swampy North-East by our principal 

town, 1 
Where they join the Cape Fear, and then take in 

the Town 
From the rice-fields of Brunswick, before they go 

down 
By Smith ville, Ft. Caswell, and Bald Head, all three 
To roll with the tide of the billowy sea. 

1 Wilmington. 



\ 



POETICAL GEOGRAPHY. 19 

CREEKS THAT FLOW INTO TKENT RIVER. 

Beaverdam and Vine Spring, Mill and Tuckahoe, 
Travel through the swampy lands of little Trent 
below. 

CREEKS THAT FLOW INTO TAR RIVER. 

Shelton and Hatcher's and Tabb's and Peach Tree, 
And Williams and Clayfoot and Creeping, you see, 
And Shoccoe and Keedy and Otter's come down 
With Blounts and Opossum and Tyson and Town, 
And Beaverdam, Fishing, and Company, Hall's 
To mingle and jingle in Tar River Falls, 
Or, flowing with Durham, Pactolus, and Deep, 
And Swift and Grinnell into Pamlico creep. 



POETICAL GEOGRAPHY. 20 

CREEKS THAT FLOW INTO NEUSE RIVER. 

From Person, Granville, Orange, 
From Durham and from Wake, 
Flow the forks of Little Eiver, 
And the Big and Little Lick, 
And Hannah's, Dry, and Chunk-pipe, 
And Crabtree, small Eno, 
And Knap of Keed's and Elerbe's, 
And Smith and Buffalo, 
Then Black and Falling, Sleepy, 
And Nauhunta, out of Wayne ; 
And Toisnot, Bear, and Turkey, 
Two Contentneas out of Greene, 
And Moccasin and Stoney, 
And Deep and South- West, flow 
With Upper Broad and Club-foot, 
And Falling, Broad below, 



\ 



POETICAL GEOGRAPHY. 21 

And Beards and second Falling, 
And Middle-Creek and Goose 
Through many hills and lowlands, 
To mingle in the Neuse. 

CREEKS THAT FLOW INTO ROANOKE RIVER. 

Wolf Island and Marrows, Town, Hogan, and Show, 
And Neilman and Double, two prongs of Hyco, 
And Big, Mill, and Moon, (these name are no jokes,) 
From Rockingham, Caswell, and Person and Stokes, 
And Bearskin and Nutbush, from Granville and 

Yance, 
Big Grassey, Big Island, and Jonathan's prance, 
With Sassafras, Gardener's, and long County Line, 
Kehukee, Skewarkee, and old Sandy Run 
To famous Roanoke with its deep Devil's Gut, 
And, rushing and pushing through many a rut, 
They all hie away into Edenton Bay. 



POETICAL GEOGRAPHY. 22 

CREEKS THAT FLOW TO THE SOUNDS. 

Troublesome, Butman's, Broad, and Stono, 
Wilkinson's, Wallace's, Deer, and Pungo 
Cowhead, Core, Fur, Duck, and Harlow, 
All these wide creeks, as we now know, 
Flow through Beaufort, Hyde, and Onslow 
Into the Sounds of Stump, Bogue, and Pamlico. 
Mill Tail, Second, and Frying-Pan tear 
Into Big Alligator from Tyrrell and Dare. 
Knobb's, Flatty, and Sawyer's, three creeks of re- 
nown, 
With the waters of Pasquotank River run down. 
Sumner's to queer old Perquimons does flow, 
While Kend rick's and Salmon to Albemarle go. 
Willis's- Quarter and Cypress both lie 
In the juniper regions of ruby Cashie. 
While Bennet's, Cole's, and Catawiskie, 



POETICAL GEOGRAPHY. 23 

r 

Panther Creek and Conaritsa, 
Middle Swamp and dark Ahoskie, 
Pottecasy, Coinjock, 
And the rambling Rocky-hock 
Fill the list of Chowan's stock. 

SOUNDS OF N. C. 

Just eleven shallow sounds 
Slumber on our shore: — 
Albemarle and Pamlico, 
Topsail, Stump, and Core, 
Currituck and Croatan, 
Where the wild geese soar, 
Wrightsville, Masonboro', Bogue, 
Roanoke — and no more. 



POETICAL GEOGRAPHY. 24 

BAYS. 

Onslow and Raleigh, — the largest of all, — 
Thoroughcars, Shallowbag, Kittyhawk, Bull, 
Juniper, Germantown, Edenton, Rose, 
Yesocking, and Stumpy-Point, — these all compose 

The principal bays 

Of our wide water-ways, 

Where vessels may ride 

On the incoming tide 

Of a gathering storm, 

And be free from alarm. 

REVIEW. 

As every wise pupil will often review, 

I'll finish these lessons to benefit you. 

To sum up in brief what we 've studied before, 

We have Creeks three hundred and ninety-four; 



POETICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



25 



Five and nine Rivers that flow north and west, 
And fifty-nine others that flow south and east ; 
Ninety-six Counties, twelve Bays and some more, 
And ten and one Sounds on the Atlantic shore. 




MT. MITCHELL. 
{Highest Peak East of the Mississippi River.) 

Now study the mountains, 
So lofty and blue. 



POETICAL GEOGRAPHY. 26 

These furnish the fountains 

With rain-fog and dew, 
And fill up the rivers 

That water the plains 
By cooling the vapors 

And causing the rains. 

THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CAROLINA. 

Pilot in Randolph and Pilot in Surry 
Stanley and Chamber's, Car's, Tyrrell's, Uwharrie, 
Oconeeche, Ben's, Baker's, Fox, Crowder's and King's 
To the men of Tide- Water seem wonderful things; 
But the men of the Skyland have mountains so 

tall, 
They call these " small hillocks, — not mountains 

at all." 
The South and the Brushy of Burke and Caldwell 
Are ranges with peaks that do " moderately well ; " 



\ 



POETICAL GEOGRAPHY. 27 

Hibriten and Rip-shin will do better still ; 
But Table-Rock, Shortoff, Linville, Hawk's-Bill, 
Hickory-nut, Bald, Black Brothers, the Dome, 
And Big Craggy, Hairy-Beard, Mitchell, and Roan, 
Grandfather, Grandmother, the Balsam Divide, 
Hog-Back and Pisgah they mention with pride. 
Between the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky ranges 
Are ridges as many as spring weather changes : 
First comes the great Black, with peaks tall and 

shaggy 
As Mitchell's and Clingman's and Guyot's and 

Craggy ; 
Then next is the New-Found, then Balsam's dark 

range, 
With its bears and its wolves and its panthers so 

strange. 
Catalooche and Soco and Cowee Divides 
Come in where the Cherokee Indian abides. 



POETICAL GEOGRAPHY. 28 

Nantahala and Whitesides extend farther west, 
And Stanbury winds up the troublesome list. 




HAWK'S-BILL, BURKE COUNTY. 

These cross mountain ranges 
Have many queer changes. 
And all have their spurs, 
Like so many burs ; 



POETICAL GEOGRAPHY. 29 

For every small fountain 
Is matched with a mountain. 



Asheville's Beaucatcher 

And Waynesville's Lickstone, 

Marion's Mount Ida 

And Bakersville's Roan, 

Polk County's Tryon 

And Wilkes County's Stone, 

And Bending and Blowing Rocks, 

Not far from Boone; 

And famous Old Chimneys 

Below the Hot Springs; 

And Shining Rock, Chimney Rock, 

Wonderful things ; 

And Baldface and Hyder, 

And quaking old Bald 3 

Junaluska and Serbal, 



POETICAL GEOGRAPHY. 30 

Six thousand feet fall, 
And hundreds of others, 
Grand, fertile, and high, 
You'll find on the map of 
" The Land of the Sky." 



A HOME IN THE MOUNTAINS. 

I love to live in the mountains, 
This beautiful « Land of the Sky," 

Where streamlets from hundreds of fountains 
Go singing and scampering by. 

I love the beautiful Pigeon 1 
And Jonathan, Soco, and Scott, 

Tuckasiege and Lufty 2 and Richland, 
That tumble from Pisgah and Plott. 

T love the tall Junaluskas 

And Lickstone and Serbal and Bald, 

1 These names of streams and mountains are familiar to those who 
visit the Waynesville White Sulphur Springs. 

2 Vulgar name for Oconalufta River. 



A HOME IN THE MOUNTAINS. 32 

And Crabtree and Hyder and Bald Face, 
I do love to gaze on them all. 

T love the valley of Richland, 

When waving with grasses and grain ; 

It heaves like the bosom of ocean, 
As breezes come bringing the rain. 

Oh ! look at the smoke on those mountains ! 

See Lickstone and Serbal and Bald, 
All rumbling and roaring and darkening, 

With clouds rolled around by the squall! 

How gloriously grand ! How impressive ! 

How wondrously awful ! to view 
These mountains while God is distilling 

The rain and the sleet and the snow. 



A HOME IN THE MOUNTAINS. 33 

I love these beautiful meadows ; 

These streamlets, these mountains tall; 
These cloudlets, these mimic volcanoes; 

I love, I do love them all. 

Words fail me to tell of the grandeur 
And beauty and glory and power 

Of the mountains and rivers of Haywood, 
As witnessed in sunshine and shower. 

The scenes are unceasingly shifting, 

The sky, now brilliantly blue, 
Next moment is curtained with cloudlets, 

And rainbows are spanning your view. 

I love to live here in Summer ; 

The air is so bracing and light, 
The breezes so cool and refreshing, 

The waters so sparkling and bright. 



\ 



A HOME IN THE MOUNTAINS. 34 

I love to be here in Autumn, 

When forests are changing their hue 

From green to orange and yellow, 
Red, violet, russet, and blue. 

Oh ! then is the time of rare beauty, 

These mountains, sun-painted and grand, 

Seem wreaths and rosettes of God's making, 
Dropped down on the beautiful land. 

I love to live here in Summer, 

I love to live here in Fall; 
But let me live elsewhere in Winter 

If you 'd have me live here at all. 

When turnpikes are turned to morasses 

Of reddest and deepest of mud, 
And horses and oxen and asses 

Sink down with a splash and a thud, 



A HOME IN THE MOUNTAINS. 35 

When the mercury sinks below zero, 
And icicles hang from your nose ; 

When fires are fruitless to warm you, 

Though clad in your warmest of clothes : — 

Then give me a home in the Lowlands, 
The warm-hearted Land of the Sun, 

Where people don't freeze by their firesides 
When Summer and Autumn are gone. 

Waynes ville, N. C, July, 1884. 






COLD WATER. 

Come, weary, thirsty mortals, 
Who 'neath life's burdens sink, 

Come, try this sparkling nectar, 
And ask your friends to drink. 

'T is not from sim'ring still-worms, 
Where, over smoking fires, 

'Mid stifling pois'nous vapors 
The bruised grain expires. 

'T is not from sick'ning odors 

Of putrefying corn 
And rye and wheat and barley, 

This beverage is born. 



COLD WATER. 



37 




But up in lofty mountains, 
Where mighty rivers rise 

In leaping, laughing rivulets 
Just born of humid skies ; 



\ 



COLD WATER. 38 

Where storm clouds brood and thunder, 

And lightnings leap and flash, 
And glittering granite boulders 

Fall headlong" in the^crash — 




Or where the red deer wander 
O'er grassy glen and glade, 

And rippling rills meander, 
This beverage was made. 



COLD WATER. 



39 



'T was brewed in grand old ocean 
Where tossing sea-gulls scream; 

When hurricanes are howling, 
And livid lightnings gleam, — 



When waves are surging wildly. 

The sea in anger roars, 
And wrecks and shells and sea-weeds || 

Are dashed upon the shores. 







COLD WATER. 

From clouds upon the mountains, 
From mists of lowly fens, 

From froth of briny billows, 
From rills amid the glens, — 



40 




From all the mighty rivers, 
From every glassy lake, 

From every dew and raindrop 
That falls upon the brake, 



From every foggy hill-top," 
From every dewy plain, 



COLD WATER. 

Our Maker is distilling 
This beverage for man. 



41 



It glistens in the raindrops; 

It dances on the hills ; 
It laughs along the rivulets ; 

And sings among the rills ; 




Then, creeping through the meadows, 

It glides into the brooks, 
Where lazily it lingers 

In many muddy nooks. 



COLD WATER. 

Till, meeting other water 
It rushes on its way, 

And in the mighty river 
It marches to the sea. 



42 




There with the briny billows 
It mingles in the main 

To be distilled in sea-fo^ 
And dew and mist again, 



Then rising from the ocean, 
'T is blown o'er hill and plain, 



COLD WATER. 



43 




To feed again the moun- jj 

tain springs 
And water man's domain. 



No poison from it bubbles ; 

No headache from it comes ; 
It starves no wives and children ; 

It desolates no homes ; 



But shining in the ice-gem, 
Or sparkling on the grain, 



cold water: 



44 



Gleaming in the glacier, 
Or singing in the rain, 




Sleeping in the dew-drop, 
Or dancing in the hail, 

Or dressing up the wintry woods 
In sleety coats of mail, 



\ 



COLD WATER. 45 

Sporting in the cataract, 

Or sinking 'neath the sod, 
It every where, in every form, 

Reflects the love of God. 




Think nut thy worth and work .arc all unknown 

Because no partial penmen paint thy praise; 

Man may not see nor mind, but God will own 

Thy worth and work, thy thoughts and words and ways. 



REPLY TO GRAY'S ELEGY. 

THE UNSEEN ROSE — THE HIDDEN GEM. 

Thoughts suggested by reading the following lines in " Gray's Elegy 
in a Country Churchyard : " 

" Full many a gem of purest ray serene 
The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear, 
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, 
And waste its sweetness on the desert air." 

No flower on earth " is born to blush unseen, 
And waste its sweetness on the desert air," 
No ocean " gem of purest ray serene " 
Is planted in the deep to perish there. 

The eye of Man may ne'er behold that gem 
" The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear," 



REPLY TO GRAY'S ELEGY. 48 

His keenest sense ne'er note the sweet perfume 
That rose distils upon the desert air. 

Still not one sparkle of that gem is lost; 
And not one breath of fragrance from the rose, 
For round about them are a countless host 
Who in their splendor revel or repose. 

Those " dark unfathomed caves " of ocean's deep 
Are not so dark as poets sometimes write ; 
There myriads, moving, mingling monsters creep, 
And doubtless to them all that gem is bright. 

Within the caverns of the grains of sand 
That lie around that desert rose's feet, 
A thousand living things, fed by God's hand, 
Find joyous homes. To them that rose is sweet. 



REPLY TO GRAY'S ELEGY. 49 

But still, if not a creature wandered where 
That rose is blooming, or that gem is laid, 
The great Creator, God, who placed them there, 
Would take delight in works His hands have made. 

Think not thy worth and work are all unknown, 
Because no partial penmen paint thy praise. 
Man may not see nor mind ; but God will own 
Thy worth and work, thy thoughts and words and 
ways. 

The desert rose, though never seen by man, 
Is nurtured with a care divinely good. 
The ocean gem, though 'neath the rolling main, 
Is ever brilliant in the eyes of God. 

Shelby, N. C, August 29, 1871. 







WORLDLINESS AND WORTH, OR THE BUT- 
TERFLY AND THE BEE. 

Among the winged insects 
That visit summer bowers, 
Two kinds, of different habits, 
Are seen among the flowers. 



One has imposing plumage 
That shines like dust of gems, 
As, dressed in velvet vesture, 
She struts o'er flowers and stems. 



WORLDLINESS AND WORTH. 51 

Her looks are very lofty, 

Her steps are very light, 

Her carriage very queenly, 

Her colors very bright. 

She lights upon the flow'rets, 
And sips the nectar there ; 
Then flitters round the roses, 
And floats away in air. 

You cannot help admiring 
The ease with which she flies, 
So gracefully and noiselessly, 
She skims along the skies. 

The little prattling children 
Gaze on her with delight, 
And fondly seek to follow 
The Butterfly in flight. 



\ 



WORLDLINESS AND WORTH. 52 

The other's not so pretty. 
She 's not so gayly dressed ; 
She wears no gaudy colors, 
Nor diamonds on her breast. 

She has no flashing plumage, 
Nor even graceful flight; 
She never charms the simple 
By waltzing in the light. 

She doesn't travel swiftly, 
For she lights everywhere, 
On all the leaves and roses, 
And gathers honey there. 

The dragon mouth she opens, 
The buttercup explores; 
And every shrub she visits 
Yields up its nectar stores. 



WORLDLINESS AND WORTH. 53 

Her friend of gaudy plumage 
Disdains her lowly state ; 
She giggles at her old brown dress, 
And mocks her stupid gait. 

She sees no use of spending 

One's life in this dull way, 

And thanks her stars she 's better off 

Than prosy, droning Bee. 

The Bee works on : she visits 
The flowers and shrubs and trees, 
The cider mills, the butchers' stalls, 
The piles of filth and lees. 

In everything she touches, 
This humming plodder sees 
Rich nectar for the working ones, 
There 's honey for the Bees. 



WORLDLINESS AND WORTH. 54 

Now come and see the sequel — 
The lesson ne'er forget — 
The one died last October, 
The other's living yet. 

The Butterfly has perished 
In Autumn's early storm ; 
The Bee 'mid fragrant nectar 
Is sheltered safe and warm. 

Ye worldly-minded mortals, 
Who live for pomp and^show, 
Learn from the fate of Butterfly 
How you must quickly go. 

Death's autumn cold is coming ; 
Its storms are gathering fast : 
Will you have hive and honey 
To flee to in the blast? 



\ 



WORLDLINESS AND WORTH. 55 

Some people read their Bibles 
Like foolish Butterfly, 
Who drinks alone the juices 
Which on the surface lie. 

They dive not to the bottom, 
As earnest, honest Bee, 
And miss the hidden nectar. 
Which worldly ones can't see. 

Within this blessed Volume 
There 's honey everywhere ; 
But those alone extract it 
Who read with earnest prayer. 

Shelby, N. C, October, 1871 



THE CHEISTIAN'S COMFORT. 

If God is my light I never shall stumble ; 
For He is the Way as well as the Light. 
If He is my wisdom I never should grumble ; 
For He doeth all things timely and right. 

If God is my Shepherd I never shall want. 
If he is my Truth I never can lie. 
If He is my Strength I never can faint. 
If He is my Life I never can die. 



THE TEREIBLE STORM. 

Oh ! the storm, the terrible storm ! 
Filling the sky and the earth with alarm; 
Bending the forests, blasting the trees, 
Tumbling the cattle on haunches and knees ; 
Roaring, 

Pouring, 

Scouring along, 
Terrible storm ! will it do nothing wrong ? 
See how it tosses the leaves o'er the plains ! 
Hear how it rattles the shutters and panes ! 

Oh ! the storm, the terrible storm ! 

Hark ! how it roars ! 'T is time for alarm. 



\ 



THE TERRIBLE STORM. 58 

Hushed are the voices of aged and young, 
Stilled is the music of prattle and song. 
Squeaking, 
Creaking, 

Breaking they fall, 
The stately oaks and the pine-trees tall ; 
Jumbled and tumbled and twisted around 
In tangled confusion all over the ground. 

" Oh ! the storm, the terrible storm ! 
Those darkening clouds are freighted with harm." 
The householder looks to the cloud in the west, 
And instantly falls to smiting his breast. 
Surging, 

Splurging, 

Crushing, it's come, 
The horrible charge of a wild cyclone. 
The window-panes rattle, the house-rafters creak, 
And shutters are slammed to and fro till they break, 



THE TERRIBLE STORM. 59 

" Oh ! the storm, the horrible storm ! " 
Wife, husband, and children now scream with alarm ; 
They huddle together, they fall on their knees, 
And there, 'mid the creakings of timbers and trees, 
Crashing, 

Dashing, 

Smashing their home, 
All thinking the Day of the Judgment has come, 
They cry to their Maker, " Great Saviour, we vow 
To lead better lives. God, spare us now!" 

cyclone, dreadful cyclone ! 
What deeds of destruction on earth hast thou done ! 
What property wasted ! What families rent ! 
How many proud spirits in agony bent! 
Tumbling, 

Jumbling, 

Rumbling away 



THE TERRIBLE STORM. 60 

Through the homes of the rich and the poor and 

the gay; 
Teaching the wealthy their riches are rust, 
And the proudest of mortals are ashes and dust. 

" cyclone ! dreadful cyclone ! 
Thanks to a Merciful Father, it 's gone." 
So said the skeptic, when frailing away 
The storm went to teach other rebels to pray. 
Dashing, 

Smashing, 

Crashing along, 
Stopping all prattle and laughter and song, 
Shattering houses and fences and sod, 
Forcing the haughty to reverence God, 

Hiokort, N. C, December 30, 1884. 



WOULD I BE MISSED? 

THOUGHTS ON MY FORTY-NINTH BIRTHDAY. 

Should I to-day be taken from this world, 
And laid away in some neglected spot, 
To wait in silence till that awful day 
When God shall call his ransomed people home, — 
Would I be missed ? 

I know my wife would grieve to see me die, 
My children too would gather round my bier, 
And with their mother weep at their great loss. 
But then from others' homes and hearts and plans 
rz. Would I be missed? 



WOULD 1 BE MISSED? 62 

What have I done this day to make me missed ? 
What burden lifted, or what trouble soothed ? 
What darkened life made brighter by my deeds? 
What orphan helped ? what widow comforted ? 
Would I be missed? 

What have I said this day to make me missed ? 
What soul in darkness have I led to light? 
WhatTsaddened heart made glad by words of hope 
Drawn from God's word ? What have I said 
To make me missed? 

For five and twenty years I have stood 
Before the world as minister of God, 
Head of a household, and for twenty-eight 
A free and independent citizen ; I ask 
What have I done? 



WOULD I BE MISSED? 63 

Great God, when I review the past and see 
How little I 've accomplished for Thy cause, 
How little for the world, myself, and Thee, 
My soul is humbled, and I feel that I 
Am vile indeed ! 

Help me, dear Saviour, from this hour to be 
More faithful to myself, the world, and Thee, 
In all those duties which vain man calls least; 
That when, at last, I stand before Thy throne 
With all mankind, I then may hear Thee say 
" Servant well done." 

If saved from hell I know 't is all by grace, 
For naught I've done commends me to thy care. 
If these poor eyes e'er see the Father's face, 
Thy love not mine, Thy toils, Thy sufferings 
Will bring me there. 

Hickory, N. C, February 1, 1885. 




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